Lubricating device.



PATBNTED DEC. 11, 1906.

L. PEVAL.

LUBRICATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED 1330.10, 1004.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEON FEVAL, OF NEWARIL'NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO AMERICAN AUTOMATIC OILER COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

LUBRICATING DEVICE.

Patented Dec. 11, 1906.

r1 plicatimi filed December 10,1904. Serial ITo 286313.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEON FEVAL, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at N ewark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lubricating Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices designed to facilitate lubrication of the axles of vehicles. Heretofore the various compositions embraced under the general term of axlegrease or heavy viscous oils have been more commonly employed for this purpose, the application of which, as is well known, necessitates the removal of the wheel.

The objects of the present invention are the production of a simple, cheap, and effective devicecapableof adjustment to automatically insure proper lubrication of the bearingsurfaces without removal of the wheel and toenable the employment of lighter oils, whereby a quantity thereof may be stored in a suitable reservoir and fed to the bearingsurfaces as required.

There are many well-known disadvantages attendant upon the use of axle-grease and heavy oils apart from the necessity for frequent removal of the wheel to apply the same to the axle. tages is that of the property of these viscous semifluids of collecting dust and forming a putty-like mass, which after working its way between the box and the axle is often the cause of prematurely-worn-out axles and hot boxes. Of late years the more general employment of ball-bearings has rendered necessary the use of lighter oils instead of axlegrease; but the results have been unsatisfactory on account of the fluidity of the lubricant, which if applied in suilicient quantity to insure proper lubrication for a reasonable time would prematurely work its way out of the hub, and thus (or if a smaller quantity were used) necessitate very frequent reoilm T am aware of the existence of various forms of devices to provide for the lubrication of a vehicle-axle without removing the wheel; but so far as I am aware these devices are more complicated and costly and less effective than my invention, which consists, generally, in a small storage reservoir for lubricating fluid mounted in the rotating hub of a wheel communicating with the journal- Among these disadvanboX and provided with novel means for regulating the flow of oil to the bearing-surfaces. More specifically, my invention consists in a tube radially disposed in reference to the hub, .comi'nunicating with the bearing-surfaces, having therein a mass of penetrable or pervious material to retard the flow of a lubricating fluid therethrough, and provided with means capable of adjustment independently of the cap for determining the position and density of said pervious mass, and therefore controlling the flow of fluid therethrough. My invention further consists in various details of construction and combinations of parts, all as hereinafter more fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

My invention will be more readily understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in whi ch Figure 1 is a vertical section of the hub of an ordinary vehicle-wheel, showing the axlespindle with my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail hereinafter described.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, numeral 2 refers to the hub of a vehicle-wheel, showing two of the spokes 3 3 and provided with the usual metal box 4, designed to receive and snugly fit the axle 5, which is, in the usual manner, tapering and screwthreaded at its extremity to receive the retaining-nut 6. Preferably, in the position indicated, the hub 2 is radially bored to receive the metal tube7, which projects through a registering aperture in the box 4. This tube 7 is preferably screw-threaded at its lower extremity, as shown, to insure its being firmly held in place and to provide for its ready removal when desired. This tube is similarly screwthreaded at its upper extremity to receive the correspondingly-threaded sealing-cap 8. T/Vithin this tube is placed a wad 9 of fibrous material, preferably unbleached wool, (although felt and other similar material may be employed.) To regulate the position and density of this mass of fibrous material, I provide a piece of stiff wire 10, (see Fig. 2,) having one extremity thereof bent into the form of a hook 11 and preferably twisted, as shown, to prevent dislodgment of the material which may be engaged by said hook. The other end of this wire member 10 is bent into the form of a ring 12 to provide a handle, which may be readily grasped with the fingers to remove or adjust the wire. The diameter of this ring should be slightly greater than the interior diameter of the tube 7, whereby upon forcing said wire downward and the ring into the end of the tube the frictional resistance due to the elasticity of the wire will hold said member in any position of vertical adjustment with reasonable security. In this manner the mass of fibrous material may be raised and lowered within said tube by means of said member 10 and firmly held in any desired position. I may, furthermore, by rotation of the handle 12 and without removal of the fibrous material increase the density of the latter, and therefore its resistance to the flow of oil.therethrough, due to the fact that upon such ro tation the frictional resistance of the walls of the tube will tend to concentrate and compact the fibers. On the other hand, of course, a slight rotation in a reverse direction will tend to loosen the fibers and increase the size of the interstices through which the fluid must pass.

It is designed, of course, that a suitable volume of light oil be placed in the tube above the mass of fibrous material. This oil will permeate the interstices of the fibrous material and gradually flow therethrough into the small chamber or space 13 below said mass, where it comes in contact with the axle 5, and through movement of the box 4 thereon is distributed over the entire area of the bearingsurfaces.

It will be apparent that once properly adjusted the member 10 need but rarely be again manipulated, is quickly and readily adjusted upon removal of the cap, may be readily removed for replacement of the fibrous material or for cleaning the tube, and is securely held in any desired position through the elasticity of the handle or ring 12.

Many modifications of the minor details of my improved lubricating device will doubtless readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art to which it appertains, and I therefore do not desire to limit my invention to the specific construction herein shown and described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination, with a hub, of a tubular reservoir communicating with the bearing-surfaces, a removable cap sealing the exposed end of said reservoir, a wire withinsaid reservoir having an end bent into a loop slightly greater in diameter than the interior diameter of said reservoir to cooperate with the interior wall of the reservoir to hold said wire in any desired position and a hook atthe other end thereof, and a mass of fibrous or other pervious material held by said hook.

2. The combination, with a hub and journal-box, of a substantially cylindrical reservoir radially disposed within said hub hav ing one end exposed and the other communicating directly with the bearing-surfaces, a removable cap sealing said exposed end, a wire within said reservoir having one end bent into a yielding loop slightly greater in diameter than the interior diameter of said reservoir to cooperate with the interior wall of the reservoir to hold said wire in any desired position and a hook at the other end thereof, and a mass of fibrous or other pervious material held by said hook and dividing said reservoir into chambers of unequal slze.

In testimony of the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

. LEON FEVAL. Witnesses:

FRANK MURRAY, E. B. VAN NORDEN. 

